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Simple yet silly drying question

Dudley

Dudley

Joined
Dec 10, 2005
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Location
SW Pennsylvania
I have read a lot of drying in a microwave, using DA, and just letting it air dry in a paer bag or wrapped in newspaper. I have also learned that if you do not have a moisture meter, you can take weight measurements and know it is dry when it stops loosing weight.

Well, with my recent shopping spree, I don't want to put the cash out for a meter, so what kind of scale do you use? A postal scale?

See, simple AND silly!
 
Use any scale that is large enough and accurate enough to weigh your rough turnings. I borrowed (my wife doesn't think so) my wife's electronic kitchen scale. It is small and accurate, and will weigh up to eleven pounds. I think she paid about $40 for it. It weighs in either pounds/ounces or grams. Love it.
Hugh
 
Any scale will work, some are just more accurate than others. I have 2 scales, a triple beam scale that is only good for a few onces and my bathroom scales. I use the bathroom scales for big bowls. I put my 75lb anvil on it and then put the bowl on this. I figure it's much more accurate in the 80 to 85lb range than it is in the 5 to 10 lb range. My triple beam scale is something left over from the darkroom days. I use it to weight small boxes when drying in the microwave.
I plan to buy a set of scales this summer that measure up to about 25 or 30 lbs. That should do for everything in the shop except the small boxes.
 
I use a standard kitchen scale, 0-5 pounds, for most things. I also have a 0-16 ounce scale for smaller things. Bigger things go on an ancient parcel post scale (0-25 pounds) or the bathroom scales. I looked at postal scales, but they're pretty pricey.

The scale doesn't need to be highly accurate, but it does need to give reproducible results. i.e. A quart of water doesn't need to weigh exactly 2 pounds but the scale should give the same reading each time you put the container of water on it.
 
Thanks folks. There are some nice scales on ebay that I may bid on. They can be had for a lot less than other places.
 
Dudley,

Harbor Freight catalog had the 2 pin moisture meter I am using on sale again for $19.99. I won't say it is the most accurate on the market by any means but it will give you a good indication when your pieces are dry. Just another inexpensive option.

Wilford
 
Beam suspended from the rafters. Balance and note the number of weights it took. No matter what they actually weigh, just keep them properly marked.

Small stuff - diet scale or one of the digital lab scales.
 
I use a triple beam kitchen scale that goes to 50lbs. Can get accuracy to the 1/4 oz. But after going through the weighing process with about 25 or 30 different piece I discovered a definite pattern and time frame for my products to stablize using the open air drying method. Now I just time it. I would assume this would be the case for most people too. It'll vary based on your climate or the season (due to humidity) but once you discover the pattern you can drop all the weighing routine.

- Scott
 
Soap drying

Along the lines of drying I have recently been talked into trying the soap method again. I explored this a year ago since I was new to turning and eager to finish someting round fast. Now that a year has gone by I have hundreds of rough outs going through the process and just last month my first 15 hit their 1 year mark. In the process of working with a new turner I was talked into trying soap solution submersion. Not sure how well it's going to work but we submerged 4 bowls for 5 days. I plan on letting them sit out in the open for 10 days to see if they are going to warp and crack before finish turning them. So far 5 days out and they still look good. It's funny how I started out trying every fast drying method I could find but now prefer to let them sit a year. Of course now I need to find time to turn the dry ones.
Matt
 
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